


(How Long Will You) Stay

by yumekuimono



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Age of Ultron Rewrite, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Canon Divergence - Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Multi, Not Iron Man 3 Compliant, OT3, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, The media is dumb, They all need hugs, Threesome - M/M/M, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony-centric, so are Doombots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-19 15:05:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5971312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yumekuimono/pseuds/yumekuimono
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony does the good thing and doesn't make Steve choose between himself and Bucky. He's not prepared for the consequences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Right Choices Are Hard (Until They're Not)

When he answers the call, it’s to Steve’s panicked voice on the other end. “Tony? Tony, I don’t know what to do. I’ve been thinking about this for so long only now we’ve actually found him and I can’t—I don’t—”

“Okay, whoa, calm down Cap, _what’s_ going on? Do I need to get the suit and fly over there?”

Steve takes a few shuddering breaths. “No, no it’s…we’ve found him, Tony.”

“Barnes? Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Yes! I think. I mean, it _is_ …”

Tony puts down his screwdriver and plonks himself into his office chair, heaving out a sigh. “I am really glad I skipped that board meeting today because this sounds like it’s going to be a Serious Conversation.” He shoves himself away from the workbench and into a resigned spin. “Okay, shoot.”

“Bucky and I, during the war…we were together. But then he fell and I woke up here, and I thought I’d never see him again. I tried to move on, and I thought I had, but now that he’s back…” Steve takes a breath, and his next words fall out of his mouth and into the pit of Tony’s stomach. “I still love him.”

Tony has to wrench his mind back into focus because Steve is continuing on in a rush.

“I think I never stopped, even when I started this thing with you, but Tony, I love you too.” There’s a pause, and Steve sounds miserable when he repeats, “I love you Tony, and I don’t know what to do.”

He takes a deep breath, trying to quiet the churning in his gut, and lets it out slowly. “I believe you—”

“Tony—” There’s a note of warning in Steve’s voice because he’s Tony fucking Stark and even his insecurities have insecurities, and he’s damned if Steve can’t see through all of them.

“Okay, okay, I’m trying _really hard_ to believe you because you’re Captain America and you’re a terrible liar and if my years of scandalous escapades have taught me anything, it’s the million variations of human sexuality. It sounds like you’re polyamorous, _which_ —” he cuts off whatever Steve was  about to say, “—is totally fine because _why_ do you think Pepper broke up with me?”

“I thought it was because you wouldn’t give up being Iron Man.” Steve sounds confused, like he can’t quite process all the words that have just come out Tony’s mouth.

“Well, there was that, but there was also the fact that I was (and still am) head over heels for you and Pepper couldn’t accept that I could love her just as much while still having feelings for you.”

Steve lets out a small “Oh.”

“I am probably going to regret this because I’m terrible at sharing, but I also never expected to have any of you, so…I’m not going to get in the way of you having Barnes too.”

“Tony…” Steve sounds pained, but Tony doesn’t want to hear it.

“Just…bring him home, okay?”

 

When Steve does show up with Barnes several weeks later, the former assassin is tense and withdrawn. He doesn’t speak, and follows Steve around like a second shadow. They can get him to nod or shake his head, and if they’re lucky they’ll get a word or two. Sometimes Natasha can get short sentences out of him in Russian. He’s more forlorn than aggressive, though, and if he’s given a direct order he’ll usually just ignore it, so they’re pretty sure HYDRA’s brainwashing is mostly gone.

Steve spends most of his time with Barnes, and it hurts, of course. But when he can, Steve steals into Tony’s bed (and/or workshop) and does his best to erase the pain, breathing fervent “I love you”s against his skin, and Tony tells himself to be grateful for what he gets. He was never going to be good enough to deserve all of Steve anyway. Even though he _knows_ in his mind that this doesn’t change Steve’s feelings for him, he still thinks if he had any dignity he’d end it here and let them have their fairytale love, but he’s selfish, so he doesn’t. He wants Steve, and he’ll take what he can.

Apparently that includes caring about Bucky, which is unexpected, but Tony finds himself concerned about the assassin’s recovery for the simple reason that Steve is too. So he offers to help the only way he knows how.

The first few times Barnes comes down to the workshop Steve is there, hovering anxiously in the background as Tony and JARVIS run scans and create holographic models of the metal arm and then start designing an upgrade. Eventually, though, Steve just walks him to the door, and Tony gets the sense they’ve been talking. Bucky still doesn’t speak to the rest of the team, but Tony figures that doesn’t mean he can’t listen. So he chatters on as he works, explaining what he’s doing, bouncing new ideas off  of him, and generally talking about anything that comes to mind. He’s not really sure if Barnes is paying attention until one day he glances up after having made a particularly witty remark to see a small amused smile on the man’s face, and Tony feels a swell of pride at having been the one to put it there.

Bucky spends less time attached at the hip to Steve, and starts coming to the workshop on his own. More than once Tony surfaces from an engineering binge in the middle of the night to find the ex-assassin curled up on the couch in the back of the shop sleeping lightly. He’s surprised to learn that Bucky comes to him as often as he goes to Steve when he wakes from a nightmare. One day, after Tony had gone several nights without sleep to finish up the latest thing for SI, Bucky brings him a cup of coffee. It turns out that not only was he paying attention, he remembers because Tony’s coffee is exactly the way he likes it, and he thinks through his under-caffeinated, sleep-deprived brain that he could kiss the man. That’s also the day Bucky speaks to him for the first time.

“Why?” he asks, and Tony puts down the pliers he’d been holding to look up at him.

He pulls down the collar of his tank top to reveal the blue glow of the arc reactor and the mass of scars around it. “This,” he says, tapping the metal in his chest, “is keeping me from dying. So I know how it feels to have this foreign _thing_ suddenly invade your body, and how important it is to take possession of it and make it feel like a part of yourself. HYDRA gave you this arm as a weapon, but you can make it into whatever you choose.”

After that Bucky starts responding more to Tony’s chatter, until his word vomit starts to sound more like a conversation, and Tony discovers a personality snarky and charming by turns. Bucky starts speaking to the other members of the team too, and shows more initiative. He’s not afraid to express preferences and opinions anymore, and it turns out he has some pretty strong ones, mostly about food. He starts joining workouts, and cautiously tries out sparring with first Steve, then Natasha. Before they know it the days of the silent specter haunting the Tower are gone. Steve starts balancing his time more evenly between Bucky and Tony, and even takes Tony out on a couple of dates. So when Tony finds the two supersoldiers kissing on the balcony, he’s only a little surprised to find it doesn’t hurt all that much. Actually, he’s happy that Bucky has made it this far and that he still reciprocates Steve’s feelings. And if Steve is a little more passionate, a little more fierce in bed that night, Tony pretends not to know why.

The next day, while he’s putting the finishing touches on the arm, Bucky surprises him by saying, “Stevie says you gave him permission to kiss both of us. Didn’t think you were the type to share.”

Tony glances up because there’s no judgement in his tone, no hint of jealousy. He snaps the final plate back on and responds, “It just didn’t seem fair to make him choose when I know from experience he wouldn’t have been able to. Though I suppose if it’s going to work, you also have to be on board with him having both of us.”

Bucky slides off the table he’d been sitting on with a “hmm,” and there’s a tone in there that Tony can’t quite place. Suddenly they’re standing very close, and before he can take a step backwards Bucky takes hold of his hands and Tony realizes he hasn’t actually let go of Bucky’s metal one. That thought too is quickly wiped away because the space between them feels different somehow, charged.

“What if I don’t like the idea of Stevie having you all to himself,” Bucky murmurs and he’s right there, lips just barely brushing over Tony’s and Tony feels like suddenly there’s no air in his throat.

“That could work too,” he breathes before he’s pushing closer, pressing their mouths together firmly because holy shit he wants this, and how did he not realize sooner? Then they’re kissing for good, and Tony can feel metal fingers splayed against the small of his back and it feels so _right_.

When they break apart he can tell his grin is a little loopy as he says the only thing he can think of, which is, “Steve is going to be happy,” but he doesn’t care. (Steve would never admit such, but Tony knows pleasing both of them couldn’t have been easy.)

“Uh huh,” Bucky says, grin also at an adorably crazy tilt. “Let’s go ambush him with kisses.”

Which is exactly what they do, plopping down on either side of the unsuspecting supersoldier on the couch. Tony plucks the book out of his hands, tossing it on the coffee table as Bucky turns him by the jaw to kiss him. “Got something to show you,” he murmurs against Steve’s lips, and before Steve has a chance to respond, Tony is claiming his mouth for his own, whispering, “Think you’ll like it.” Then he’s pulling away and leaning across Steve to meet Bucky halfway for another kiss, which, as it turns out, Steve more than enjoys, if the small noise he makes when Bucky slides his tongue into Tony’s mouth is any indication. They pull back with a smirk and a wicked grin to find Steve’s pupils blown and his cheeks flushed bright red.

He makes a strangled noise that sounds like “You—” but doesn’t get any farther because Bucky is mouthing at his neck.

“We want this to be the three of us,” he murmurs. “All of us together, if that’s okay.”

“Yes,” Steve gets out in a rush, and Tony pushes his nose behind his ear, hiding his smile and wondering just what he did to deserve both of them.

He hums into Steve’s skin, pushing that train of thought aside because right now… “Right now I want it to be the three of us in my bed.” He nips lightly at the side of Steve’s ear.

Steve groans and tightens his arms around the both of them. “ _God_ yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww, aren't they cute?
> 
> Poor Tony. He's going to regret ignoring that thought. Polyamory and abandonment issues intersect in not-fun ways, and it has to get worse before it gets better. It does get better though. Tony's just not good at feelings.


	2. Sokovia, Latveria, and Collusion of the Not-Fun Kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the angsty one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, this chapter had far too much canon that I am not familiar enough with to make informed decisions on what/how to change, but I'm too lazy to just go re-watch it. Whatever. I can do what I want.
> 
> Enjoy!

Several months after they form their little triangle, Bucky is cleared for public consumption and the Winter Soldier officially joins the Avengers. They hold a press conference, and because the former assassin is still uncomfortable in crowds, he holds Steve’s hand as the team walks in. Once they’re seated, Tony scoots closer and takes Bucky’s metal hand under the table, giving it a squeeze, which gets him a smile because Bucky can feel that now. The gathered press can’t see that though, and since Steve and Tony hadn’t  really announced their relationship before Bucky reappeared and they became concerned with other things, there’s really nothing to stop the media from seizing on the relationship between Captain America and his childhood friend and right-hand man Sargent Barnes. Which they do. Gleefully. It ends up more or less drowning out any questions about the wisdom of allowing until-recently-brainwashed, ex-HYDRA assassins on the world’s preeminent team of superheroes, which, really, is probably the best that could’ve happened.

They decide not to bother correcting public impressions because, while Tony has long since stopped caring what the media thinks of him, Steve and Bucky neither need nor want the attention, and they’re fortunate that right now the majority of it happens to be positive. It’s hard to resist such a tale of epic, time-defying romance, even if both parties happen to be male. Throwing Tony into the mix would just make things messy and raise all sorts of invasive questions that none of them want to answer. So they let people think what they will (though the Avengers all know, which is fine because they’re the important people and anyway it’s damn near impossible to keep secrets while living with a couple of superspies and a nosy demigod).

 

Soon after that they find themselves across the ocean in Sokovia launching an attack on the last remaining HYDRA base. Fury and SHIELD had managed to take down the others with espionage and covert strikes, but this one had obviously taken a hint, and they’d beefed up security big time. Now, SHIELD had been not trusting people since long before Fury, and when they had recruited former HYDRA scientists after the war, contingency plans were put into place. Thus, when the evil organization had made its move, they had suddenly found that their foothold within SHIELD was not as strong as they’d thought it was, and they’d ended up tipping their hand far too early. SHIELD had survived mostly intact, if a bit tarnished, but this simply isn’t something they’re prepared to handle. So the Avengers assemble once again to kick ass and save the world.

Except as they’re doing so they run into not one but two very freaky kids.

“I thought recon team was supposed to warn us about shit like this,” Tony complains.

“Recon team was trying not to be spotted by people,” Natasha grunts down the coms over the sound of her guns firing in quick succession.

“Which these definitely are, babe.” Bucky sounds entirely too relaxed for someone currently engaged in hand-to-hand with at least ten HYDRA goons. Tony swoops in to dispatch several of them with repulsor blasts. “Thanks.”

“Hey, we told you about Loki’s scepter, so that’s gotta count for something, right? I mean, what else would they be using it for if not to make people weird?” Clint still manages to be annoying despite being up a tree shooting arrows off at a rapid pace and still being touchy about the subject at hand.

“Chatter,” Steve reminds them, though at this point it’s not much of a reprimand. “We’re gonna try to capture the kids. Wound if you must, but keep them alive.”

That proves easier said than done, however, and they’ve almost cornered the girl when she gives them a royal mind-fucking. Tony finds himself standing on a dead planet, the void stretching cold around him as the suit slowly powers down. A voice that sounds an awful lot like Howard echoes, and he can’t tell if it’s inside his head or out, can’t distinguish words, but he doesn’t have to. There’s only one reason Howard would be speaking to him. He looks down to see the bodies of his team—his _family_ —at his feet. It takes him a second to realize because Rhodey and Pepper are there, so the number is right, but there are two people missing. Steve and Bucky. They’re gone. Dread settles in his stomach and he wants to vomit. It’s the end of the world and everyone is dead and it’s all his fault, and Steve and Bucky are _gone_. They’ve finally realized what a horrible fuck-up he is and they’ve turned their backs on him and gone and died and left him all _alone_ … Tony blinks and the vision is gone, along with the girl.

“I fucking hate magic,” he groans, and Steve doesn’t even reprimand him.

Then Coulson is landing in a quinjet shuttle from the helicarrier that’s moving into position above them. “Quickly,” he yells at the agents pouring off the jet. “We’ve only got a limited window to be here, so let’s get in and get out.” The agents disperse through the rubble to begin the clean-up operation.

“You all look like shit,” Coulson says mildly as they approach.

None of them reply, and Clint just walks up and kisses his boyfriend hard.

“I’ll move your debrief to later, then,” he says when the archer finally releases him, and they file into the jet.

On the helicarrier there’s a tense distance between the three of them, and Tony tells himself to be glad. He’s shaken to his core because he knows the vision is true. Maybe the world won’t really end, but it’ll feel like it. Maybe it’s better to just get it over with now. He can’t believe he’s let himself forget for this long. There’s no way he deserves this, no way he can keep it, so when they’re finally alone and Steve reaches out, Tony shrugs him off. Picking up a tablet, he tries to distract himself by hacking into SHIELD’s systems to see what else they’ve found in the newly-destroyed base, pointedly ignoring his partners—Steve standing in the middle of the room looking hurt and confused, and Bucky…Bucky is sitting in a chair, knees drawn tightly up, perfectly still and not speaking, looking like he did a year ago when he first came to the Tower. Neither of them look okay, but if he goes to them now Tony knows he’s not going to be able to leave, and then it’ll be too late.

That plan is ruined though when Steve says, “Tony. Come here,” and if that’s not Captain America in his voice it’s damn close because Steve knows, he _knows_ if he’d done anything other than command him, Tony would have dug in his heels and used it to fuel his obstinacy. He gets up and goes sullenly over to where Steve is sitting at an awkward distance from Bucky, placing himself just out of reach. He can feel himself at the edge, tipping, and his hands itch for something, anything to do before he breaks completely.

“We need to have a Serious Conversation.” The way he says it Tony can hear the capital letters, and he bites the inside of his bottom lip hard because he knows exactly when Steve picked that phrase up. “This isn’t us. Tell me what’s going on.” Steve’s voice softens until he’s just Steve again, and Tony is reminded that in his personal timeline he’s not even thirty yet. “Please.”

He can’t look at Steve, stares instead at his hands twisting in front of him as he mutters, “It was only a matter of time anyway.” Steve doesn’t say anything, and Tony feels compelled to explain further. He swears it’s Captain America’s secret power or something. “I never deserved this. But I’m selfish and greedy so I went ahead and took it anyway, and the worst part is that I’m just good enough to know I can’t keep it and it’d be better for all of us if I just moved on already and let you have each other—” once he’s started Tony feels like he can’t stop and the words come pouring out in a rush “—because you’re _good_ together and I’m _not_ , but—it’s just—why does it have to hurt so goddamn _much?_ ”

Somehow Steve understands what he means and Tony takes it back, _that’s_ his secret power. “I’m not leaving you, Tony. And contrary to what you think, you do deserve this. You gave me a home in the future, and you took in Bucky as well. It would have been perfectly within your rights not to allow him in the Tower at all but you did so without a second thought. Not only that, you didn’t even try to make me choose between him and you. For that, and for so much more, I love you Tony, and my life wouldn’t be complete without you.” There’s a pause before he says softly, “C’mere.”

Tony lets Steve lean over and pull him across into his arms, and that first touch is all it takes for him to shatter, everything he’d been holding back rushing out, and he can’t believe he’d ever thought to leave. He buries himself against Steve’s chest, holding on tightly as he tries to shove down the sob rising in his throat and the tears burning in his eyes because habits die hard, even when he’s allowed to cry. He ends up with hitching, gasping sniffles, and Steve just rocks him gently, resting his cheek against Tony’s hair.

“Listen,” Steve murmurs, addressing the two of them now, “what that girl showed us…Somehow she tapped into our worst fears. I saw you falling, both of you. And…it was the back hole and the train all over again, only it was much worse because this time you were dead before you hit the ground and there was nothing I could do.” Steve is quiet for a moment, then says fiercely, “I’d do anything, fight to my last breath, if it meant not losing one of you.”

Bucky slowly unfolds from his chair and comes to curl up against Steve’s side, draping one arm across Tony’s back to replace the one Steve moves so he can hold both of them, and Tony takes hold of Bucky’s shirt. When Bucky speaks, his voice is hoarse, and muffled from where his face is pressed against Steve’s neck and shoulder. “Your blood was on my hands. I…I will _never_ let the conditioning have you. Would rather tear my arm out.”

“Don’t,” Tony manages weakly. “’S my baby.” But it’s more of a reflex than anything because he’s too busy being overwhelmed. He still doesn’t think he deserves to have both of these utterly amazing people who are so much stronger (and more _functional_ , which—how messed up is that?) than he is, but he’s so _fucking_ grateful he does. And he’s not sure why, but he believes them when they say they won’t leave him, even though his mind is screaming otherwise, even though usually it’s the other way around, even though that’s just a little terrifying. But maybe, just this once, he can let himself be wrong so that someday he can find a way to tell them exactly how much he loves them.

They sit there together until they’re called to debrief. The two kids are Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, codenamed Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, and though they’d like to go after them, the helicarrier’s already headed out of Sokovian airspace. Diplomatic relations in this part of the world aren’t the best right at the moment, so they’ll just have to let them go for now. Meanwhile, SHIELD has taken possession of the scepter and several other items of interest that will be catalogued at the new Avengers facility one the helicarrier reaches New York. (SHIELD had been in need of new headquarters after the HYDRA fiasco, and Tony had been happy to give them an old SI warehouse for their Avengers division. It kept them close, which was nice, because Tony could not trust people too.)

It turns out that one of the items had been the kernel of an AI, and one brilliant agent by the name of Hank Pym has the bright idea to use it as a peacekeeper. He fiddles around with it for a while before bringing it to the Tower for advice, where he gets distracted talking science with Tony and Bruce and neglects to mention it until _after_ it’s developed into full initialization, stolen a robotic body, and escaped, _killing_ JARVIS in the process. Tony would say that he knows better than anyone that genius minds can make the dumbest of mistakes, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s pissed. So the Avengers are suiting up once again, this time to stop a genocidal robot AI run amok. Along the way Tony creates a second robot AI from the ashes of JARVIS—which turns out to be _not_ a colossally bad idea, and works rather well, actually—and they run into those two kids again.

Tony braces himself to see that terrible vision, but instead what he gets is an image of two children hiding under a bed, staring out at a rocket embedded in the floor. He can taste their fear, and then he sees the words on the side of the bomb and the guilt is all his own. The children are obviously Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, and Tony is expecting a fight, but instead he can feel…approval? The twins hate war and they hate being used for war more than they hate him, and they end up joining the Avengers in stopping Ultron.

They save the world, as always, but it’s missing some of its savor. Wanda is grieving, and understandably reluctant to move into the Tower, though it does eventually win out over the too-familiar secret base feel of the new Facility. And the Tower is now strangely quiet since Thor has gone back to Asgard to research the Infinity Stones and Clint has taken an extended leave to spend time with his wife and kids. Sam is nice, and Vision is Vision, but Tony misses talking science with Bruce. They all miss their old teammates, but surprisingly he’s not the one who’s taking it the worst.

Though outwardly she acts normally, Natasha has taken to staring out windows and sighing forlornly when she thinks no one is watching. They’ve all got an idea of why (superspies and demigods, etc., etc.), but none of them knows how to approach it without getting a terse, “I’m fine.”

Finally Bucky throws up his hands and says, “I’ll deal with it.” When he crawls into bed late that night he smells of cheap vodka, and his voice is heavily accented with Russian when he mumbles, “love you,” before passing out. Bucky is fine in the morning, and actually seems to have shaken off the last of the tension from the helicarrier incident, but Tony thinks it’s the first time he’s ever seen Natasha with a hangover. She does pull herself together more after that though, so when the next crisis hits she’s all business.

 

Apparently Victor von Doom has decided to repay them for “invading his airspace”—which they were only in very briefly in order to stop a city from being dropped on the Earth and _wiping out humanity_ —by sending an army of robots to attack New York City, as if _that_ hasn’t been done before.

When Tony sees them he gasps, “They’ve been _colluding_! Why, oh why do our nemeses have to share information?” because the Doombots are emerging from what look rather like Chitauri Leviathans.

“Hey, least you know what you’re up against,” Bucky notes as Tony drops him off at his sniper position with a seriously big gun. “I ain’t seen any of these before. Though hopefully they blow up just the same.”

“We don’t know if Doom’s made any changes, so don’t get lazy,” Steve tells them over the com, already in full Captain America mode.

“Aye aye, Captain.” Tony winks at Bucky before he snaps his faceplate down and launches himself backwards off the building, flipping around in midair.

“Showoff,” he can hear Bucky mutter fondly as he flies into his own position, and he can’t suppress his grin.

They’ve got twice as many members who can fly now, so their roles are a bit different, though Tony can’t deny it’s much easier this way. Sam is tasked with running interference to maintain the perimeter and providing aerial coordination. Vision takes the air while Wanda takes the ground, so Tony finds himself floating between the two as needed. Which is why he’s on the ground and altogether too far away when halfway through the battle he hears a strangled cry. He whips around to see a Leviathan, half its thrusters down along one side, twisting convulsively as it crashes into a building three-quarters of the way up. He’s been so absorbed in the battle that he doesn’t realize where he’s ended up until he spots a flash of metal against a dark uniform falling from the roof of the building as it collapses.

“Shit shit shit.” Tony launches himself into the air, willing himself to just _be there_ , oh god please let him be there in time.

Bucky hits the tail of the Leviathan and bounces off, body sickeningly limp. Tony dodges showers of debris and manages to catch a metal wrist ten stories up. He barely makes the turn, almost slams into the building as he gets them out. He flies towards the perimeter, setting them down in a relatively quiet area. The civilians have been evacuated and there are no Doombots for the moment, just a burning truck half a block down.

He can hear Steve over the coms, worry bleeding through his Captain America voice. “Iron Man, is everything okay?”

Tony’s mouth is dry as he responds, “Yeah. Fine. We’re fine. Gonna need a minute.” Then he switches them to a separate channel, kneeling down in front of Bucky. “Hey, Buck, you’re okay, tell me you’re okay.”

The ex-assassin is silent and shaking, staring glassy-eyed through the red and gold figure in front of him, and Tony is _not_ good at this. He flips up his faceplate and pulls Bucky into a hug, the arms of the suit a poor replacement for flesh and blood, but they’ll have to do. Bucky fights him, mouth twisted into a snarl, though his eyes are still far away. Tony just holds tighter, using the suit as much as he dares, trapping the metal arm between their bodies. He starts talking, murmuring quietly, trying desperately to keep the fear out of his voice, to channel a calm he doesn’t feel.

“Come on Bucky, come back to me. You’re safe, I caught you, you’re okay. It’s okay now, come on. Bucky, Bucky please. I love you, come back—” and Tony thinks this might be the first time he’s actually said those words aloud to Bucky, but if there’s any time to say it, it’s now goddammit. “—Come on, shh, it’s okay. It’s okay, I love you, you’re safe. Shh…”

Gradually, Bucky stills, and Tony can feel the tension drain from his body, breath evening out. Long moments later his arms come up to embrace Tony back. He doesn’t lift his head or look at Tony though when he says, “Sorry.”

“Hey.” Tony pulls back just enough to look at him, waiting until Bucky cautiously meets his gaze before he says firmly, “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

That gets a weak smile, and Bucky says, “I love you.”

Tony beams back. “Love you too.”

Bucky leans forward and kisses him, and _that_ tastes like the Bucky he knows.

By some miracle Bucky is mostly uninjured, so Tony pulls his boyfriend to his feet and they rejoin the team to finish mopping up the (exceedingly stupid) robots.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somebody please do art of them cuddling on the helicarrier. I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER.
> 
> That's all.


	3. Coming Out and Staying Out, or Collusion of the Highly-Entertaining Kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The media is dumb, and the boys are trolls.

It turns out cats are onto something when it comes to falling from high places, and Bucky gets off with a couple of almost-fractured ribs, a banged-up knee, and lots of deeply bruised skin in mottled purple and yellow. Steve is not happy when he finds out, and fusses incessantly over Bucky despite the fact that his healing factor is almost as good as Steve’s and his injuries are gone in a week. Tony, for his part, would have entirely forgotten about their kiss, except that a picture of it ends up on Twitter, and then the papers, and then the media works itself into a frenzy over the possible infidelity in Captain America’s perfect relationship. Tony is vilified, of course, which he just rolls his eyes at, though neither Steve nor Bucky is happy with having their boyfriend demeaned in such a manner.

“I don’t understand why people are so invested in our private lives,” Steve frowns. “It’s…dehumanizing.”

“You’d think they’d have better things to do,” Bucky complains.

“So ignore them,” Tony says mildly. “People are gonna think what they’re gonna think, and they’re never right.” He’s learned this the hard way. “Besides, the three of us know the truth, and we’re the ones who matter.”

Doom’s attack was specifically targeted at the Avengers, so the rest of the team is laying low for a while anyway, but Tony has a press conference scheduled for the launch of SI’s latest product, an affordable, portable water filtration device which they hope will bring clean water to millions of people in developing nations. He could send a minion, but this issue really needs the kind of publicity his face can get, and anyway he’d promised Pepper he would try to be better about these things.

It goes well initially, and Tony’s just finished a long explanation of how the device will be able to run quickly and efficiently without the use of electricity when he asks for additional questions and a reporter in the back of the room puts up her hand and says, “Mr. Stark, do you have anything to say regarding the image of you and Sargent Barnes taken during last week’s battle?” Suddenly the whole room looks more interested.

Tony opens his mouth, closes it, then says, “Okay, one, I was under the impression this was about water filtration, not me. Two, y’all are supposed to be better than those tabloid gossip-mongers whom I very pointedly did not invite. And three, if that’s the only question, this conference is over.”

He takes the elevator back home, and finds Steve and Bucky in the communal kitchen. Steve is making grilled cheese sandwiches and Bucky is leaning against the counter watching, though he pushes away when he spots Tony. He ignores Bucky’s question of, “Tony, what—” in favor of walking into him and dropping his head on Bucky’s shoulder, groaning loudly.

“Also, ow,” he mutters because he’d picked the metal one.

“That bad, huh?” Bucky asks, rubbing circles into his back.

“I admit it. We have to do something. They’re defiling my science!”

“So let’s have some fun, mess with them a bit.”

Tony picks his head up to look over Bucky’s shoulder at Steve in surprise.

“You sure you’re the real Steve Rogers and not some poor Skrull imitation?”

Steve makes a face at him, plating a sandwich. “I never liked leaving you out anyway, and I’m not above abusing my reputation if that’s all that people want to see.” Which is the thing about Steve: if people are going to be determined to equate him with Captain America and hold him up as a paragon of virtue, he is going to be determined to remind them that he’s not. It was one of the reasons falling in love with him had been so easy after all that Howard had made him out to be, not that Tony would tell him this. So that’s how they end up coming up with a devious plan to make the media bend over backwards for their entertainment.

With no new information to go on, the furor has mostly died down by the time Steve and Bucky attend a D-Day memorial service together, standing solemnly at rest with one arm around the other. The event stirs up some speculation, but the real kicker is a month later when Tony appears at the mayor’s Independence Day gala as Steve’s plus one. Steve hadn’t been planning to go because large spaces with too many exits and too many people wanting to make conversation that alternates between pointless and intrusive are generally not good places to take one’s hypervigilant ex-assassin partner. It is, however, exactly Tony’s scene.

Tony cackles as they get ready to go. “I never get invited to this thing. Not freedom-y enough.” Also, while Captain America could do no wrong, it was Tony’s name plastered all over the numerous battle-related constructions sites around town, so it was always Tony who got most of the blame. As if there’s anything he can do to prevent the wanton destruction of infrastructure when giant robot armies attack the city.

“And won’t the mayor just love it when you show up,” Bucky says, eyes glinting in mirth as he kisses Tony goodbye.

“Exactly. But he won’t be able to say anything. It’ll be glorious.” Tony grins back.

“We’ll be back before the fireworks,” Steve promises, giving Bucky his own kiss.

The gala is filled with veterans, philanthropists, representatives of particularly worthy charities and NGOs, and of course lots of journalists. Tony puts on his best media smile and does some high quality schmoozing. He talks up his clean water project since the initial launch hadn’t gone so well, and makes a mental note to brag to Pepper about it. The mayor’s grimace is indeed glorious, and it’s not lost on the other guests that it’s the first time Tony Stark’s been to the gala. Tony answers all their questions with a serene, “I’m here with Captain Rogers.” He does actually enjoy himself despite his refusal of alcoholic drinks, and towards the end of the afternoon he rescues Steve from a gaggle of admirers to pull him onto the dancefloor.

They dance to something slow and swingy, making just a bit of a show of it. Steve is graceful as always, much more comfortable holding Tony than a lady, which Tony can’t help teasing him a little about, making Steve blush adorably. And it’s not something that Tony says often, but it’s nice, dancing with his boyfriend. The eyes that are certainly on them fade out of importance, until it’s just the two of them and the music and how gone Tony is on the gorgeous man in front of him. The song comes to an end, as it must, and Steve contrives to bring them to a stop near the edge of the dancefloor. There’s a mischievous glint in his eyes suddenly, and Tony thinks he knows what’s coming. Steve leans down and kisses him, a possessive, hungry thing, and Tony kisses right back, pushing up into it to close the space between them. He can hear shutters clicking furiously amid the swelling of whispering voices, and he casually flips them all off, feeling Steve’s silent laughter against his lips.

When they pull back, eyes fixed firmly on one another, Tony says in the most serious voice he can manage (which is not very), “I think now might be a good time to return to the Tower, don’t you Captain Rogers?”

And Steve just barely keeps the smile off his face when he links arms with Tony and replies, “Yes, I think you’re right, Mister Stark.”

They keep it together until they’re in the car, and then they’re laughing uncontrollably and Tony collapses onto Steve, sighing in contentment when the other man puts an arm around him and holds him close. At home they sit on the roof with the rest of the team, eating birthday cake and watching the fireworks, Bucky sandwiched between them and feeling safe enough to enjoy the colorful explosions. Natasha curls up in a blanket of a familiar purple color that’s large enough to engulf her, and though she mumbles something about it not being the same, she leans her head on Sam’s shoulder anyway. Wanda and Vision sit together and talk quietly, their words too low to hear. They’ve become a proper family again, Tony thinks, and that makes him indescribably happy. Later, he and Bucky take Steve downstairs to give him a birthday present he won’t soon forget. And if they also happen to enjoy themselves immensely, well, that’s just how these things go, isn’t it?

The next morning Bucky laughs loudly when he sees the picture, drawing the attention of the others in the kitchen. Natasha and Sam gather behind him to look over his shoulders at the tablet and huff their own laughs. Steve bumps Tony’s shoulder with a grin as he sits down with a bagel, and Tony leans over for a quick kiss. He’s smiling smugly into his third mug of coffee as the three around the tablet take turns gleefully reading the outrageous speculation surrounding the incident when Pepper clicks briskly into the room, followed closely by Agent Coulson.

“Tony,” Pepper says in that fond-exasperated way she has.

“Hey, Steve kissed me,” he protests.

“I hardly think that’s a distinction many people care about at the moment. Just be grateful our stock prices haven’t taken a hit, since I am now CEO.”

“I am! I am so grateful, Pepper. Every day I think how lucky I am that you do such an amazing, wonderful job of running my company—”

“Good. Then you won’t miss the board meeting next Wednesday.”

“Awww, but _Pepper_ …” Tony whines.

“ _And_ you’ll get these back to me by Monday.” She sets a manila folder full of papers on the table with a light smack. “I expect them on time, Tony,” she says on her way out.

Tony is in the middle of grumbling and glaring daggers at Bucky’s silent laughter and Steve’s amusement when Coulson steps forward.

“Do you intentionally try to make PR as difficult as possible, Stark?”

“Nope.” Coulson looks like he doesn’t believe that, but before he can say anything, Tony says, “It was Steve’s idea.”

Steve blushes and doesn’t deny it, and Tony enjoys the look of consternated conflict on Coulson’s face as he tries to reconcile his fanboyishness with his experience of actually interacting with Steve outside of missions. Then Natasha inserts a tactical question about Clint, and Coulson gets distracted talking about his boyfriend. Finally the agent sighs, turning his attention back on Tony.

“I would say you’re a bad influence, but I think Barnes got there first.”

“Damn straight I did,” Bucky grins.

“Fine. Do what you want, but I’m scheduling a press conference so you three can explain yourselves.” And with that Coulson is gone. The three of them just look at each other and shrug.

Tony is in his workshop that afternoon, having finally finished Pepper’s sheaf of paperwork and escaped the Avengers training session to begin on the latest upgrades to the suit, when Bucky drops from a vent in the ceiling behind him and announces, “I dunno if Clint is mad or brilliant.”

Tony jumps, but Bucky just slings an arm around his shoulders. “Then again,” the ex-assassin continues, pecking Tony on the cheek in greeting, “Clint is shorter than me, which is probably an advantage. What’s goin’ on with you, dollface?”

“Suit upgrades,” Tony responds automatically before his brain fully processes what just happened. “Wait, why are you here? I thought you were doing stealth training with Steve and Nat.”

“I am. We have to track and neutralize the other two before they catch us. We’ve got the whole Tower for the op, but no weapons, and FRIDAY is off-limits.”

Tony raises an eyebrow at his boyfriend. “You’re playing hide-and-seek tag. Deadly assassin hide-and-seek tag.”

Mirth dances on Bucky’s face as he cheerfully replies, “Yup.”

“I hope you’re not disturbing my employees.”

“Only you, babe.”

Bucky kisses Tony on the lips this time, then moves away to stand with his back against the wall to the right of the glass door. Tony tries not to shiver at the loss of contact, and turns back to the circuit board he’d pulled out.

“So,” Bucky calls across the room, “got any ideas for what we should do before Coulson puts an end to our fun?”

Tony affects nonchalance, not looking up from his soldering iron. “Well, I might have three box seat tickets to the Mets game on Saturday, if either of you are _interested_ …”

“No shit?” Bucky grins. “Oh, hold that thought.”

Tony looks up in time to see Bucky yank Steve into the shop by his wrist and aim a jab at the side of his neck between collar and cowl. Steve recovers from his surprise enough to block the hit, and then they’re going at it, a mesmerizing whirl of well-muscled limbs that Tony abandons his circuit board to watch because it’s almost as hot as them making out. It ends when Bucky gets inside Steve’s reach and kisses him, then uses the distraction to throw him to the ground. Steve lets out a (very manly) shriek, then sweeps Bucky’s feet out from under him. Bucky contrives to land on top of Steve, and quickly pins him. “Damn,” Steve sighs, leaning up to kiss his boyfriend properly. “You cheater.”

Bucky grins and pulls them to their feet. “Aw, but you love me anyway.”

“Yeah, I do,” Steve says fondly. “Jerk.”

“Punk.”

Bucky wraps an arm around Steve’s waist as they walk over to where Tony is sitting and Tony loves watching them, loves seeing how in love they still are, even after everything that’s happened to the two of them. Which is strange and new, and he wonders when that happened, when he stopped worrying that they loved him any less. Whenever it was, he sure as hell isn’t going to start again now. That warm expansive feeling in his chest and the smile he can’t keep off his face that goes along with it feel too good for that.

He blinks out of his momentary daze to hear Bucky saying, “Tony’s taking us out to a ball game on Saturday,” and he squawks indignantly.

“That was gonna be a surprise!”

“Then why’d you tell me, if you didn’t want Stevie knowing?” Bucky asks playfully as Steve leans forward a bit to kiss Tony.

“I _was_ gonna ask you not to tell, but I got interrupted by you beating the crap out of him,” Tony retorts as soon as he can speak again.

“Well, I am duly surprised,” Steve smiles. “And I’d love to stay, but we have to find Natasha and beat the crap out of her too.”

“Later!” Bucky tosses over his shoulder as they walk out, and Tony watches them go, chuckling quietly as they go back and forth about where to find the Russian spy (probably on Bruce’s floor) and how to take her down (very carefully). Against the two of them together, Natasha doesn’t stand a chance.

 

Saturday rolls around bright and sunny, and they head out, Bucky and Steve chattering excitedly about Dodgers games back in the day. They parade deliberately past the paparazzi that have no doubt followed them from the Tower (the little creeps), feigning obliviousness. Tony settles in with a bucket of cracker jack in his lap and a supersoldier on either side. Steve complains about being removed from the “spirit of the game”, prompting Bucky to roll his eyes good-naturedly at Tony. That’s all forgotten though when the first play is made, and Tony lets himself get swept up in his boyfriends’ enthusiasm. The Mets end up winning the game and they leave the stadium in a state of mild euphoria, freely trading kisses and gestures of affection. Tony, at least, actually forgets to care about the camera shutters inevitably following them, just happy to be out with both of his partners.

The media response the next day is split between hilariously baffled and outrageously scandalized. The conservative wing seems to take it as a personal betrayal and a perversion of everything Captain America stands for. It seems they could hold their bigoted noses and look the other way when it was just Bucky (who rarely went out anyway), but for _Captain America_ to engage in such egregious behavior with not one but _two_ men, and in _public_ at that, well, that was simply unforgivable.

Steve snorts when he hears. “They shoulda brought it up with Dr. Erskine when he chose the skinny queer kid to give the serum to. Though actually, it may not have made a difference.”

The liberal media is less judgmental, but they dance around the topic and don’t actually say “threesome” or “polyamory”, opting instead for lingering leading questions that don’t leave much room for doubt that that’s what they mean. The tabloids of course scream shock and outrage without actually saying anything of substance. A couple of columnists and internet bloggers actually get it right (for the most part—none of them guess how long the three of them have been together).

They spend about a week enjoying the spectacle of watching public opinion play out (during which Tony _does_ go to the board meeting, if only because neither Bucky nor Steve want to be on the receiving end of an angry Pepper Potts) before Coulson is herding the three of them into the promised press conference. From the moment they walk into the room they’re bombarded with questions, and the din doesn’t abate until they settle themselves on the podium, ignoring two of the mics to cluster around the one in the middle, sharing each other’s space easily, and Steve leans forward to speak. Then the room falls into an almost comical hush of expectancy and Steve lets out an awkward laugh before he begins.

“Uh, okay, to answer as many questions as I understood: yes, the three of us are all dating each other, it’s called polyamory; no, Tony was never ‘intruding’ on my relationship with Bucky, nor did either of us ever cheat on the other; I don’t think dating multiple people with the consent of all involved is wrong, nor does it go against my religious values—actually, I am so grateful that after everything we’ve been through, God has brought Bucky and I back together again and allowed us to meet the wonderful, crazy genius that is Tony Stark—”

Tony’s eyes widen at the unadulterated affection in Steve’s voice and the way his arm tightens comfortingly around his shoulders. When he glances up, it’s to see Bucky smiling back at him with an expression that perfectly mirrors Steve’s words. Bucky leans down and quietly kisses him before he too wraps an arm around Tony, pressing their shoulders together.

“—and no, this is not a recent development,” Steve finishes. “Tony and I were dating since before Bucky was found, and the two of them started dating as well around the same time Bucky and I officially renewed our relationship. So it’s been, what, eight months?” Steve glances back and Bucky nods in confirmation.

“Anything I missed fellas?” Steve asks, and Tony leans forward to the mic.

“How about, for once I actually like my life, so…”

“Fuck off,” Bucky tells the assembled press.

Tony grins. “Precisely.”

They don’t, of course, but Tony finds that he doesn’t care. Because he had meant what he said, about liking his life, and he was happier than he could ever remember being. He was in love with two wonderful, amazing men who loved him back just as much; and shit, if the three of them could take on a genocidal robotic artificial intelligence bent on world destruction and aided by a psychic able to tap into their worst fears (Tony is _so_ glad Wanda is on their side now), and not just win but come out stronger, then they could do pretty much anything. Even build a life together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay Tony! :DD
> 
> That's it for this fic guys. Come say hi on [Tumblr](http://yumekuimono.tumblr.com).


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